Pokeball Z -- Ash vs. Vegeta!
by videl888
Summary: Ash challenges the capsulecorp gymleader


Disclaimer: I like Pokemon. I've watched it a lot, and wish no harm on Ash and his friends. But I have to warn you, if you love Pokemon, you have only yourself to blame if you read this. That is all! Enjoy!  
  
  
  
POKEBALL Z -- BATTLE AT CAPSULECORP!  
  
  
  
Once again, we follow our heroes as they continue on their Pokemon journey. Unfortunately, Ash, Misty, and Brock appear to be... lost! When, suddenly, Ash makes a discovery --  
  
"Look! A building!"  
Togepie made burbling baby noises in excitement. "You're right, Ash! For once, you're getting us un-lost instead of lost!" Misty said caustically.  
"Yeah, that's a first," drawled Brock.  
Ash grumpily refused to look at his sarcastic companions, saying, "Ha, ha. But where there's buildings," he brightened visibly, his innate cheerfulness overcoming his disgust with his friends, "there's a city. And where there's a city..." Ash broke into a run, Pikachu squealing with delight. clutched tightly in Ash's excited embrace.  
Brock threw up a cautionary arm, crying, "Ash, wait up!"  
Ash finished his declaration as he ran, "There's a Pokemon gym!"  
  
  
Doo doo, da doo doo....  
  
ASH  
VS.  
VEGETA   
  
  
Baa, baa, baa, ba dum!  
  
  
Misty read the large block letters on the round dome slowly, drawing them out. "Capsuuule... Huh. I wonder what that means?"  
"I don't know, Misty, but we'd better hurry if we're going to catch up with Ash!" Both trainers broke into a run, following their excited friend as he raced towards the dome.  
Ash skidded to a halt in front of an unlikely trio lounging on the lawn in front of the Capsule building. A trainer with spiky black hair lazed around in a cushy-looking lounge chair, accompanied by two strange-looking pokemon. All three were sipping lemonade and snacking on cookies.  
They looked up in surprise at Ash's uncontrolled arrival and watched him pant excitedly. The trainer let his sunglasses slip down his nose in his astonishment. The pokemon just stopped what they were doing and blinked at the excited young boy in bewilderment.  
"Hi! My name is Ash. What town is this?" he gushed breathlessly.  
"Uhhhh..." replied the trainer.  
In the meantime, Misty and Brock rushed to Ash's side, gasping for breath. To all three's astonishment, it was one of the pokemon who answered.  
"This isn't a town, you dope! It's Capsulecorp!" It snorted in piggish disgust at Ash's ignorance.  
Brock sputtered in excitement. "Hey! You can talk!"  
"Yeah! Do you know Meowth? He can talk, too!" cried out Misty.  
"Don't be so rude to our guests, Oolong!" admonished the other pokemon in a pleasant British accent. Floating in the air, the blue cat-pokemon turned to address the flabbergasted youths. Oolong snorted.  
"Hey! You can talk, too!" yelled Brock.  
"Wow! That's amazing!" enthused Ash.  
Misty ignored the astonishing pokemon, concentrating her attention on the tall, muscular, black-haired trainer. She batted her eyelashes, giggling at the speechless stranger, who until then had been too astonished to do more than utter subvocal grunts of surprise.  
"Where did you get two talking pokemon?" she tittered. "I bet you were clever to catch them. My name is Misty, by the way. What's yours?"  
Ash groaned in disgust, glowering as Misty practically fell on the stranger in her rush to talk to him. He supposed the guy was handsome, but still! She didn't have to make such a fool out of herself...  
The stranger just replied with a wild-eyed, "Uhh..."  
Oolong rolled his eyes. "Looks like you've got yourself a new girlfriend, Yamcha," he grunted insolently, chuckling in sleazy delight.  
Misty's eyes grew wide, sparkling with stars. "Ooo, Yamcha," she drawled, savoring the name, clutching her hands to her breast girlishly.  
Frowning, the floating blue cat-pokemon hmphed at Oolong's rudeness.  
Ash dashed between Misty and Yamcha. "Never mind that! Yamcha," he began politely, "is there a gym nearby?"  
Yamcha blinked, the apparent non-sequitor snapping him out of silence. "Well, Vegeta has a gym, if that's what you mean."  
Ash's excitement rocketed upward visibly.  
"Really? That's great! Where can I find him?" Ash could hardly contain his enthusiasm.  
"Well, he's over there, that way," Yamcha pointed vaguely in the direction of a path that wound around the building. "But why the heck would anyone want to see him?"  
"All RIGHT!" Ash jumped up, pumping his fist in the air excitedly. "C'mon, Pikachu! Let's go challenge -- the Capsulecorp Gym Leader!" And with those words, Ash spun on his heel and raced for the path.  
Yamcha sat up in alarm. "What? Wait a minute! Hey, kid!"  
Ash was too wrapped up in his preoccupation to notice the stranger's near panic as he pelted across the lawn.  
"Yeah!" grunted Oolong, concern for the boy's well-being overcoming his innate selfishness. "You don't wanna mess with that guy!"  
The flying pokemon was obviously distressed. "Vegeta does not like to be interrupted while he is training. He will be very angry!"  
Brock watched the trio with growing concern.  
"Puar is right!" Yamcha declared earnestly, turning to Brock and Misty in desperation. "Vegeta is not a guy you want to make angry, believe me!"  
"Maybe we should listen to Yamcha and his pokemon, Ash!" Brock yelled after the departing figure. He was starting to get worried. This Vegeta guy sounded like more than Ash could handle.  
But Ash was blinded by enthusiasm. "Well, if Vegeta's the Capsulecorp gym leader," he tossed over his shoulder, "I am going to challenge him to a battle!" Ash was gone, tearing down the path before that astonishing declaration could elicit a stunned response.  
"What?" finally shrieked Yamcha.  
"That kid is braver than me, lemmie tell ya!" snorted Oolong. Puar just put her paws to her cheeks and wailed, "Oh, dear!"  
"Wait, Ash!" cried Misty as she ran after him. Brock followed, commenting, "I have a bad feeling about this..."  
Yamcha just blinked in shock. "He can't be serious." Then he shrugged and laid back in his lawn chair. "His life, I guess."  
Puar just tsked. "I hope his friends stop him from this foolishness..."  
  
  
  
Ash rounded a corner at a dead run, then skidded to a halt. In front of him was a giant capsule. A huge explosion rocked the craft as he watched, golden light exploding from the windows in a violent tornado of energy. Ash stood with his mouth open. "Ohhhh..."  
Recovering quickly, he yelled, "That's gotta be it! Vegeta must be in there, and he must have some powerful pokemon! I can't wait!" Dimly, from behind him, he heard Brock shouting, "Wait, Ash! This guy could be dangerous!" He ignored it, barely hearing the former gym leader in his tingling pre-battle excitement. "Ash!" he heard faintly, and then he was at the door. He bravely squared his shoulders and banged on the hatch.  
There was no response. The capsule continued to rock violently.  
Ash hmphed crossly, then banged again. "Hey, you in there! I'm looking for Vegeta!"  
The quaking stopped. Ash suddenly felt an ominous foreboding.  
Pulling himself upright, he tried to shrug off the feeling as pre-battle jitters. He couldn't quite quash his nerves, though. He tried to ignore them, and banged again. "Vegeta! I challenge you!"  
The hatch hissed, making Ash jump in panic. He tried to calm his racing heartbeat, and put on a brave front as the door slid sideways. Why am I so nervous? he wondered, trying to bring his puzzling terror under control.  
Then a figure moved out of the shadowy interior into the light, and Ash understood. He swallowed audibly.  
"What foolishness is this?" demanded the harsh voice. Dark brows were drawn down in a permanent scowl over insane, dark eyes, and his intense gaze fell on Ash like a collapsing building. It was all Ash could do to stand up under the onslaught of the glare.  
"A child?" The man snorted derisively. Then his small, powerful frame straightened with amusement. "You? Challenge me, the Prince of all Saiyans? The most powerful being in the universe?" He bellowed his harsh laughter, and it wasn't a reassuring sound. Ash quailed momentarily, then stood upright, bringing his chin up obstinately.  
"That's right! I'm Ash Catchem, and I challenge you to a battle, Vegeta!"  
Vegeta barked another laugh. "Ohh, I'm so scared," he gushed in fake terror. "Perhaps I should go get my infant son to protect me. Or perhaps I should call the police." The idea seemed to amuse him greatly as he laughed scornfully again.  
Ash scowled, his temper getting the best of him, wiping out his fear. He could hear Brock and Misty running up behind him, and their presence gave him courage. He ignored Brock's cautionary, "Wait a minute, Ash!"  
Anger made him reckless. "Well, if you're too afraid to fight me, just admit defeat, and I'll be on my way. And I'll make sure to tell everyone I meet what a weakling you are, too!"  
Vegeta's amusement just ended, like a switch had been turned off, and that intense stare made Ash's blood run cold. Stillness fell. Ash could hardly breathe.  
"All right, then," the harsh voice grated. Then, unexpectedly, he smirked. "Let's see what you've got." Without warning, he moved, impossibly fast. "BIG BANG ATTACK!!!"  
The black-haired gym-leader launched his attack so fast at those words that Ash had no time to react. He heard Pikachu scream shrilly, and then the light was enfolding them. He never even saw the Saiyan move before the young trainer boarded the Vegeta express to the next dimension.  
"ASH!" screamed Misty. "What the --" Brock started. They stared in horrified shock at the spiky-haired thug for a full minute before reality finally penetrated. Vegeta looked disappointed. "What a colossal waste of time," he muttered crossly, and turned to re-enter the capsule.  
Misty recovered first. "Stariyu, go! Water gun attack!" Water spewed everywhere as the pokemon leapt from its pokeball, ready to fight.  
Vegeta spun, black locks hanging in sopping ropes, murder in his black eyes. "You will pay for this indignity!"  
Misty had time to scream once, and Brock had time to fling his arm across his eyes in a pathetic attempt to protect himself as the strange gym leader turned golden-haired, roaring his rage. The water evaporated instantly in the spinning maelstrom of pure energy that accompanied the now-turquoise eyes, almost as if he were glowing from within. Then those eyes latched onto their target, and Brock knew it was over.  
  
  
Bulma was finishing up in the lab when the house was rocked by an incredible explosion, tossing her violently to the floor. She gasped in surprise. "He didn't! No man can blow himself up twice!" Then she was on her feet and running.  
She was out the door in time to see a magnificent mushroom cloud rising in deceptive beauty from the direction of Vegeta's capsule. She sprinted towards the spacecraft, Yamcha joining her halfway there.  
They skidded to a halt in front of the undamaged capsule just as Vegeta let go of his chi, his hair fading back to its normal midnight black. Fury quickly followed her evaporating panic.  
"What do you think you're doing, scaring us like that?" she shrieked. Yamcha, seeing there was no emergency, tried to pretend he didn't exist. Not so Vegeta wouldn't notice him -- so Bulma wouldn't find another object on which to vent her spleen. Heck, Vegeta could take it. Yamcha didn't feeling like being blessed with Bulma's ire today.  
Bulma'a eyes fell to the three greasy stains on the floor of the capsule. No, not three. Four. There was a smaller one there, too.  
Yamcha followed her gaze and tried to make himself invisible. Bulma exploded.  
"What have you done, Ve.Ge.Ta?" she clipped each syllable, her waspish voice warping the very air around them. "Those stains are never going to come out!"  
"Leave me alone, woman!" he screamed back, glowering dangerously. "I have had enough foolish interruptions for one day!" And with those words, he spun on his heel, and the hatch hissed irrevocably shut.  
Bulma let loose an inarticulate scream of rage. Then she paused, puzzled, her scientific curiosity overcoming her fit of rage. Yamcha let out his breath in a relieved sigh. He was going to be spared today.  
"How did it get so wet out here?" she asked in puzzlement.  
Yamcha looked around, not really caring, but he thought it would behoove him to humor her. "I dunno. Maybe it had something to do with those kids."  
"What kids?"  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
